TWO of Suffolk’s most influential business have reported mutual benefit from HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.

Southwold brewer Adnams says its beer sales rose by nearly 25% during the celebrations, compared with the same period last year, representing an additional 428,544 pints and including strong demand for its Diamond Ale, brewed specially to mark the jubilee.

And the extra demand has also meant a boost for energy-from-waste company Bio Group, operator of the Adnams Bio Energy plant just outside Southwold which takes waste from the Adnams brewery and turns into into “green” gas through the anaerobic digestion process.

Andy Wood, chief executive of Adnams, said the company was delighted with the interest shown in Diamond Ale which had been created by taking “the best bits” from the recipe and design of its Royal Wedding beer last year.

“Like many businesses across Suffolk and the UK we were pleased to have the extra day off work to celebrate all things British,” he added. “To also see business benefits from this is a real encouragement for the work of Bio Group and Adnams.”

Steve Sharratt, chief executive of Bio Group, said: “To see people enjoying Diamond Ale is encouraging, to see our local economy benefiting from the Jubilee is good news and to see our work with Andy and Adnams benefiting means it is great news for the environment.”

Mr Sharratt and Mr Wood were both at the House of Commons the week after the jubilee celebrations as part of the team briefing Ministers and MPS on the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership’s “Green Economy Pathfinder” manifesto, in which both Adnams and Bio Group were involved.

They now hope for similar results with Adnams’ Flame Runner beer, being produced to celebrate the London Olympics.

Mr Sharratt said: “We are committed in our work with Adnams to make a real difference. I have continued to say that low carbon industries are a fundamental part of the UK economy coming out of recession and examples such as this show that to be so.”

Mr Wood added: “For a number of years now, Adnams has been investing in ways to reduce our impact on the environment. The reality of being able to convert our own brewing waste and local food waste is something we greatly value and to see this grow over the Jubilee is an added extra.”